Glyph of the Gladiators
by I-am-Uniquely-Myself
Summary: What happens when a femme from the servant caste meets two of the most famous gladiators? Friendships, battle training, and snarkiness. Lots and lots of snarkiness... Rated for violence, because, let's face it, gladiatorial matches are messy...


The pale green femme followed the thick crowd, chatting amiably with her friend as they filed into their home city-state's main attraction: Kaon's gladiatorial pits. As the line slowly inched closer to the ticketmaster, the femme's excitable friend looked around.

"I keep hearing about these matches, but I've never had the credits to come see one. Who's fighting again?" She asked curiously, and the green femme grinned.

"There'll be a few minor matches between lower level mechs to get the mood up, and then the main event is a death match between our champions of the two-on-twos, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker, and Kalis's partner mechs Gridlock and Quickshot." She explained, excitement clear in her voice, and her friend's optics widened.

"Glyph, you don't mean _the _Sideswipe and Sunstreaker, do you?" Her tone was full of awe and enthusiasm. The green femme, Glyph, grinned even wider and nodded.

"The very same. I told you it was the best match of the orn!" She said triumphantly as she showed the ticketmaster their two tickets. Her friend squealed like a schoolfemme and grabbed Glyph's wrist, dragging her toward their front row seats. The pale femme laughed and sat down, taking her wrist back.

"Calm down, Brightlight. I didn't use this decaorn's credits to buy us these seats just so you can make us look like foolish younglings." She teased with a smile, and Brightlight squealed again, although this time she made an effort take it down a noise level

"I can't help it! Those two are just so amazing! They're the best gladiators ever, so they'd be able to protect their femme, they're split-spark twins, and-" She started, only to have Glyph cut in.

"And they're not hard to look at." She added with a suggestive nudge to her friend's side and a wink. Brightlight rolled her optics and push her away.

"You live to make fun of me, don't you?" She groaned, and Glyph grinned cheekily.

"Yes I do. Now mute it, the first match is starting."

Sure enough, the announcer's deep voice immediately rang out across the arena, sending the crowd into a roar.

"Who's ready for some action?" He said without preamble, and the crowd screamed in reply, Glyph's and Brightlight's voices among them.

"Then let's get down to business! First up, we have the rough, the tough, the one and only Sharpstrike!" He shouted, and a tall, dark blue mech strode out into the arena, smirking as the crowd cheered. When the noise finally died enough to be heard over the din, the announcer spoke up again.

"And on the other side, let's welcome the biggest, baddest mech from here to Iacon, Darkflame!" A black and burnt orange bot stepped into the arena from the other side, the scowl on his face much more serious than Sharpstrike's cocky smirk. Glyph leaned over toward Brightlight so that she could be heard over the noise of the crowds.

"If I had extra credits, I'd bet on Sharpstrike. He looks a lot more confident." She said, and Brightlight turned to look at her, optic ridge raised.

"Are you kidding? Darkflame has this in the bag." She scoffed, and Glyph rolled her optics. Their bickering was cut off, however, when the bell rang, signaling the start of the match. Just like that, the two lunged at each other, snarling like cyberwolves and lashing out with swords and other short range weapons. The crowd was eerily silent for the duration of the match, only letting out a collective cheer whenever one of the competitors would get a good hit in. Finally, Sharpstrike managed to subdue Darkflame, and the match was over. The crowd cheered and chanted his name as he held up his arms in victory. Brightlight crossed her arms and huffed and Glyph joined the chant. She leaned over and grinned.

"Told ya so." She gloated, and Brightlight groaned.

"Stop being a glitch. That was only one match."

Unfortunately for Brightlight, that was how all of the lower matches went. One of them would pick a mech that they favored, and every time, Glyph's mech would win. Convinced that the matches were rigged, the yellow femme took to just sitting in her seat with her arms crossed, scowling. Glyph got a huge kick out of this, however, and was more excitable than ever, cheering loudly at every possible moment. Finally, it was time for the real match, and the crowd was in a frenzy. This time, the announcer actually stepped into the arena, his small, gunmetal grey frame standing in the exact center of the ring. He raised his arms for the crowds to quiet, and when the roar had dulled to a quiet murmur, he grinned.

"Femmes and gentlemechs! It's time for the event you've all been waiting for!" He paused and let the crowd cheer again.

"I hope you will all assist me in welcoming the mechs of the joor! So, without further ado, let's give the challengers a Kaonian greeting. Here to challenge our champions all the way from Kalis, I give you Gridlock and Quickshot!" He cried, and gestured to the door on the right side of the arena, which slid open to allow the aforementioned mech's entrance. The first one to step out was tall and robust mech who was a dark, hunter green with black accents on his chestplating. His red optics scanned the crowd, a scowl fixed on his face. This was Gridlock. Quickshot, the next bot, was considerably smaller, with a black paintjob that made his lighter red optics stand out almost eerily. Seeing as they were both from a different city-state, they were met with more booing and hissing that cheers. They both frowned at their cold welcome, and made their way to the center of the ring to join the announcer.

"And now, make some noise for Kaon's reigning champions in the two-on-two category, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker!" The crowd erupted into cheers, Glyph and Brightlight surging to their pedes and screaming as loud as they could. The other door slid open, and the first mech to step out— or rather, roll out—was a grinning, cherry red mech with wheeled pedes. His red optics slowly moved over the crowd as he rolled towards the center, raising his arms like he had already won, which earned him even more cheers. This mech was Sideswipe. He turned around and looked back to the door, almost exasperatedly, as he waited for his twin to emerge as well. Soon enough, Sunstreaker stepped out as well, his paint a gleaming gold that contrasted with his crimson optics and dark scowl. He strode towards the center, where the other three mechs waited as Sideswipe wheeled around in large circles, waving cheerfully at the patrons and garnering _even more _applause, if possible. Many of the femmes in attendance screamed his name and waved back, and Glyph was no exception. From her front row seat, the green femme set her hands on the barrier that separated the crowd from the arena and waved enthusiastically, cheering. Sideswipe caught her optic as he finished his final circle, and as his crimson optics met her own violet ones, he grinned even wider and winked. Glyph felt her cheekplates warm as she blushed, and she smiled and waved again as he made his way to join the impatient mechs in the center. Glyph turned to Brightlight, grinning.

"Did you see that, 'Light? Sideswipe just winked at me!" She exclaimed, and the younger femme squealed happily.

"Really? He winked at you? Primus, you lucky little slagger!" She said teasingly, and Glyph laughed. She was about to reply when the announcer's voice rang out again.

"Alright! You all know what this means!" He shouted, and the crowd roared.

"DEATH MATCH!" They took up the chant, and he grinned.

"That's right! These four gladiators will engage in a battle for their sparks. Melee weapons and brute force only; any long range weapons will get the mech responsible disqualified." The four opponents nodded in understanding, and he clapped his hands together.

"Alright then. Mechs, you may begin!" A bell rang as the last word left his vocoder, and the four mechs immediately faced off. Gridlock lunged for Sunstreaker, while Quickshot unsheathed two sharp daggers and leapt at Sideswipe. The twins shared a look that almost seemed bored, and then turned back to their opponents, Sunstreaker clenching his servos into fists and Sideswipe unsheathed twin Cybertronium blades of his own.

Sunstreaker ducked out of the way and kicked Gridlock in the back, throwing the burly mech off balance. He stumbled but caught himself, spinning around quickly. He lunged again, this time aiming a fist at the golden mech's jaw. Sunstreaker grabbed his wrist and used Gridlock's force to spin out of the way, bringing his knee up to slam into the green mech's chassis.

While all of this was happening, there was another, separate battle going on between Sideswipe and Quickshot. Where Gridlock and Sunstreaker were fighting with fists and kicks, the other two were locked in a heated sword match. Quickshot had immediately sliced at him, aiming his gleaming daggers at the important lines in Sideswipe's neck. The red bot easily dodged the blow, however, and brought his own wrist-mounted blades up to parry it. Quickshot snarled and spun around, stabbing towards Sideswipe's spark. But the excitable mechs just spun out of the way, sliding gracefully on his wheeled pedes. At this point in the match, it was obvious to everybot except the two challengers what the twins' strategy was: let the two Kalisian mechs exhaust themselves with useless attacks, and when they were weak and dangerously close to overheating, go on the offensive and offline them quickly and effortlessly. And that was just how the match went.

Sunstreaker would easily dodge any of Gridlock's powerful punches or kicks.

Sideswipe would dance away from Quickshot's flying daggers.

They would both taunt and tease their opponents relentlessly, insulting their intelligence and mettle.

And the crowd loved _every single klik of it_.

The cheers and screams of the energon-thirsty fans were deafening as they encouraged the twins and jeered at the two Kalisians. Glyph and Brightlight's voices were lost in the mix, but they were there all the same.

Eventually, the crowd got restless and tired of the repetitive defensive maneuvers the golden and red mechs were taking. Hearing this dissent, they both shared a knowing look and turned to their opponents with identical, fiery glints in their optics. They paused for a moment, with Sideswipe ginning malevolently and Sunstreaker smirking confidently.

"Time's up," The golden twin intoned.

"And you lose." His red counterpart finished, and in perfect sync, they lunged for their targets.

Sparks flew as Sunstreaker landed punch after powerful punch on Gridlock, denting even his thick armor easily. The green mech stumbled back with each blow, exhausted and unable to defend himself properly. Sunstreaker threw a fist at his jaw, and let out a triumphant 'ha!' when he heard the bot's lower mandible snap and Gridlock let out a howl of pain. He spun and kicked his opponent in the chassis, the mech flying towards the wall and landing with a crunch right below Glyph and Brightlight's seats. The mech slid to the ground with a groan, and Sunstreaker sidled over, unsheathing a long, deadly Cybertronium blade that matched Sideswipe's. He raised it in the air, earning a chant of "FINISH HIM!" With a malicious grin, he stabbed downward, the sharp sword spearing his armor and slicing through his spark. The crowd roared as Gridlock's shocked red optics went dark.

One down, one to go.

Quickshot, having sensed his partner's demise, began to panic. Sideswipe was attacking with all of his worth, and the black mech's defenses were flawed. Sideswipe easily landed and slice here, a stab there, until Quickshot was riddled with wounds and leaking energon quickly. He began to slow down, his systems utterly taxed, which did not work in his favor. As Sunstreaker watched grimly from beside his fallen enemy, Sideswipe spun and leapt into the air, flipping before slicing downward with both of his swords. With the black mech unable to dodge quickly enough, the blades easily through major energon and coolant lines in his neck. Fluids spurted everywhere as the mech collapsed, Sideswipe landing softly beside him. As Quickshot spasmed on the ground, his frame overheating and his spark dimming from lack of energon, the chant of "FINISH HIM!" Began again, and the red gladiator laughed.

"Your wish is my command!" He shouted, and then swung his blade downward, slicing Quickshot's sparking helm cleanly off his shoulders. The red optics went dark, and the crowd surged o their pedes, chanting and shouting themselves hoarse. The grey announcer quickly reappeared in the arena, grabbing Sideswipe's and Sunstreaker's servos and raising them into the air victoriously.

"We have our winners! It is my honor to present to you, the reigning champions, Sunstreaker and Sideswipe!" He cried, and a new chant rose from the stands.

"SIDESWIPE! SUNSTREAKER! SIDESWIPE! SUNSTREAKER!" They roared as the two brothers grinned and joined servos, raising their joined arms above their helms and bowing. Glyph turned to Brightlight and grinned.

"What did I tell you? Best. Match. Of. The. Orn!"


End file.
